Politics

DUBAI, July 24 – Iran’s top judge called on the United States on Monday to release Iranians held in U.S. jails and billions of dollars in Iranian assets, days after Washington urged Tehran to free three U.S. citizens. The statement by Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani capped a week of heightened rhetoric over the jailing and disappearance

RIYADH, July 24 – Websites and some television channels linked to Qatar were unblocked in Saudi Arabia on Monday morning but the change arose from a technical glitch and the restrictions will be reimposed shortly, a key Saudi royal court adviser said. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar

By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON, July 24 – President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, faces two days of closed-door questioning from Congress this week as lawmakers try to determine whether Trump’s campaign enlisted Russia’s help to win the White House in last year’s election. Kushner, a senior White House adviser, is expected to face questions about

DUBAI, July 22 – The United Arab Emirates, one of four Arab countries that have imposed sanctions on Qatar, said on Saturday that Doha needed to change its policies before a dialogue could take place. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar and imposed an economic boycott last month, accusing it

By Luke Baker and Ori Lewis JERUSALEM, July 21 – Israel bolstered security in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday and prepared for possible clashes with Muslim worshippers after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided metal detectors at a sensitive holy site would not be removed. There have been daily confrontations between Palestinians hurling rocks and Israeli

DUBAI, July 19 – President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday new U.S. economic sanctions imposed against Iran contravened the country’s nuclear accord with world powers and he vowed that Tehran would “resist” them, state television reported. The Trump administration slapped the new sanctions on Iran on Tuesday over its ballistic missile program and said Tehran’s

MOSCOW, July 19 – The Russian lawyer who met Donald Trump Jr after his father won the 2016 U.S. Republican presidential nomination has said she is ready to testify to Congress to dispel what she called “mass hysteria” about the encounter. President Donald Trump’s eldest son eagerly agreed last year to meet Natalia Veselnitskaya, a

By Michelle Nichols NEW YORK, July 17 – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that he hopes Yemen’s war will not spark direct confrontation between Iran and Saudi Arabia and that they can work together to end the conflict in the country and Syria. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in Yemen’s civil

BEIRUT, July 17 – A senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned the United States on Monday that if it designated the group a terrorist organisation and applied new sanctions its action could be perilous for U.S. forces in the region. U.S. officials said earlier this year that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering a

LONDON, July 17 – A senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) official said international monitoring was needed in the standoff between Qatar and its Arab neighbours, adding he saw signs that the pressure exerted on Doha “was working”. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed sanctions on Qatar on June 5, cutting diplomatic